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Diversity in Soil Fungi, Protists, and Microarthropods

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Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity and Environmental Change in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of South Ecuador

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 221))

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Abstract

Current preserving services in the tropical mountain forest of Southern Ecuador are discussed, with a focus on arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, microarthropods (oribatid mites), and protists (testate amoebae). Diversity patterns of AM fungi are described in a comparison of native forest with its anthropogenic replacement system of low plant diversity, while patterns of oribatid mites and testate amoebae are reported along an elevational gradient. Levels of AM fungal richness observed thus far were relatively high on both sites, but not unusually so. Belowground invertebrate richness did not approach that of aboveground invertebrates. Testate amoebae species numbers were relatively high overall, but did not follow a clear altitudinal gradient, in contrast to plant richness and oribatid mites. These results illustrate the complexity of the studied system in Ecuador with respect to the overall compartmentalization of diversity patterns.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Biologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Matthias C. Rillig & Tessa Camenzind

  2. Georgraphic Institute, University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany

    Julia Gawlik

  3. Eberhard Karls-Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

    Ingeborg Haug

  4. J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Valentyna Krashevska, Mark Maraun, Dorothee Sandmann & Stefan Scheu

Authors
  1. Matthias C. Rillig
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  2. Tessa Camenzind
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  3. Julia Gawlik
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  4. Ingeborg Haug
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  5. Valentyna Krashevska
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  6. Mark Maraun
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  7. Dorothee Sandmann
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  8. Stefan Scheu
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Correspondence to Matthias C. Rillig .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Faculty of Geography, Philipps University Marburg, Deutschhausstr. 10, Marburg, 35032, Germany

    Jörg Bendix

  2. , Department of Plant Physiology and Bayre, University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstr. 30, Bayreuth, 95440, Germany

    Erwin Beck

  3. , Institute of Geography, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Kochstr. 4/4, Erlangen, 91054, Germany

    Achim Bräuning

  4. , Institute of Soil Science and Site Ecolo, Technical University of Dresden, Piennerstr. 19, Tharandt, 01737, Germany

    Franz Makeschin

  5. , Institute of Silviculture, Technische Universität München, Am Hochanger 13, Freising, 85354, Germany

    Reinhard Mosandl

  6. , J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Str. 28, Göttingen, 37073, Germany

    Stefan Scheu

  7. , Geographic Institute of the University o, University of Bern, Hallerstr. 12, Bern, 3012, Switzerland

    Wolfgang Wilcke

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Rillig, M.C. et al. (2013). Diversity in Soil Fungi, Protists, and Microarthropods. In: Bendix, J., et al. Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity and Environmental Change in a Tropical Mountain Ecosystem of South Ecuador. Ecological Studies, vol 221. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-38137-9_7

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